My Atypical Writing Sessions: How Insomnia Shapes My Writing

A quick look through the WordPress Reader reveals that I’m not the only one struggling to drift off to sleep. I’ve been up for the past three hours now, alternating between scrolling through Facebook on my phone and staring at my window to catch the first peaks of dawn. My body baffles me by constantly yawning but also rebelling by refusing to sleep; it’s a weird dichotomy.

Insomnia is one of those things that gets more annoying the longer you deal with it, but you also get desensitized to it, at least I do anyway. I think the worst time was the period earlier this month when I was awake for two days. I’m surprised I didn’t snap at anyone.

Regardless of its pain in the butt status, insomnia is good for at least one thing: writing. Most experienced writers give new writers the advice of writing daily; I do not. I’ve read that some writers attack when the sun comes up, while others prefer to write at night when kids and spouses slumber to ensure a distraction-free zone. Oh, if only it were that easy.

I write whenever my Muse hits; the fact that it correlates with my awful sleep schedule is merely coincidental. I think one of the reasons why insomnia helps the writing process is because of the creative ideas it produces. Only at 3 a.m would a thought like “if someone wrote a suicide note to God, how would He respond, if at all?” or “if writing and speaking English were banned in America, how screwed would society be?” pop up in my head. In short, insomnia makes me think outside the box.

So, the next time you’re up counting sheep and hoping for slumber, why not give writing a try? You’ll be surprised at what you can create.